I have a piece of Chestnut Oak that I used to make a handle for one of my flatters.  So far it's held up fine.  I didn't see it listed by anyone so I thought I'd throw it in there.

Oaks in general don't make good handle wood: the length of the fibers is good, but they tend to be a bit too coarse and thus more likely to split. However, chestnut oak is often somewhat finer-grained than most oaks and might be a decent candidate for a hammer handle. While technically a white oak, their wood tends to be more brown than other white oaks, and thus a better aesthetic choice for this particular case.

Also struck tools usually don't require anything special in a handle, I've used old broom handles before!

JHCC I'll keep that in mind for striking hammers.

ThomasPowers that was my thought exactly.  Since it will be a struck hammer I didn't think the Chestnut Oak would be too bad.  Thanks for confirming that.

I may just through in a walnut handle and call it done Dave51B And the thing is, is that this is a small hammer ya'll. less than a lb. This is a hammer, that at the most would be used for texturing or jewelry, you can't really do any heavy forging with it. I honestly could put pine in and probably would be fine I think (I obviously WOULD NOT do that, but was just saying). It's not like a sledge hammer handle, or an axe handle, that is actually going to have to take some beating, and is long, but this is a 12 inch piece that is straight (unlike an axe handle). I think the only possible way to break the handle in this case would be to over strike, and the only time that is possible is when striking punches or chisels. Also, I think I could also through in a hickory handle, that way if it does break, they can just through in the handle, as I could make it to fit it already. 

What's ya'lls thoughts?

also, MC Hammer, thank you for the suggestion.

                                                                                                                                                     littleblacksmith 

 I do hope you throw up a pic after the handle is installed......        Life is Good                        Dave 

For a small taptap hammer, walnut should be fine. For a heavy forging hammer, not so much.

Of course, you could play it safe and go with charred ash.

Oh you'll be sure to see it when it is done!

I have also thought about a charred hickorry handle, just a dark handle that would compliment the hammer nice. I should post a picture of a small rounding hammer I recently made that I did a charred octagonal handle for, I like it all right.

                                                                                                                                    Littleblacksmith 

Here’s a charred ash handle on a little raising hammer I made from a rail anchor. 

as promised, here's the pictures! 

                                                                                                                                     Littleblacksmith 

Beautiful! I hope it brings a pretty penny at the auction and goes to someone who can really apreciate it.

Thanks! I really do too.

                                                                                                                                                  Littleblacksmith 

 I like it Mark...well done.....and you were right in my opinion. The dark wood compliments the hammer well. If I may.....I would like to take the 'blame' for talking you into going ahead a using the walnut...                     Life is Good                         Dave

 Hey Mark, I was just wanting to know if the hammer has gone to threw the auction yet. You do plan on giving us the results, yes?      Thanks                                        Dave

It will be in the auction on february 17, I do plan on giving the results, Ya'll may have to remind me I will probably forget.

                                                                                                                                                 Littleblacksmith 

The event is this Friday! I will also be doing a two hour demo there, I'm pumped!

                                                                                                                               littleblacksmith 

Don't forget to bring a snack, like gorp, to help sustain you during the demo.  Also something to drink.

I wont! The humidity is supposed to be around 80%. I was getting things ready tonight and just gathering everything I got a little sweat. 

                                                                                                                                   Littleblacksmith 

Take a second snack and lunch in a cooler in the truck. Take more liquids than you can drink. AND lots of pictures

How hard to split a wood is as important as flexibility, woods with a reputation as bow woods as well as woods that don’t split clean but are very stringy tend to be good tool handles

If you are doing the demo get someone else to take the Pictures!  A lot of us get so hyper demoing that we forget to eat and drink. Getting the shakes just when you are down to the fiddly bits is not helpful.

 Did I miss the update somewhere? Just wanted to hear how the auction and Demo went........             Life is Good                Dave

Whoops, see, I told y'all that y'all would have to remind me! The Auction went good. I also included a center punch with a pineapple twist, sold for $60, included a pair of flat jaw tongs I think sold for $60, and last but not least the Damascus hammer sold for $160! I was happy.

The demo went great, met lots of good people. It went really good, only thing that happened was I melted the flower key chain I was working on on the last heat, of course haha! luckily I had a second piece that was halfway finished so it was not big deal. The hot cut that we demoed was really nice, and the cupping tool was the best one yet. we brought probably 5 cupping tools and about 5 hot cuts for sale and sold all but one, these were our ones we practiced on for the demo. And the fish bottle opener I demoed went well too, but I had no worries about that. Like the owner of the shop said, it went better than any rehearsal.

Here is some pictures and a video. The video I think you may have to have a facebook to watch though, yall let me know.

Here is a video of us upsetting the cupping tool.

https://www.facebook.com/mark.ling.731/videos/102190880610363/?t=0

 

Very good L/B.....sounds as though a good time was had by all. Nice to hear your hard work has paid off. Also thank you for the update. I am not able to view the video, but your pics show enough to get the gist.             Life is Good                 Dave

I was at the demo for a couple of hours and I'll say that you did some very fine work. You were also very professional the way you interacted with the audience. Great job.